Because recreational vehicles are mobile vehicles, the width of the vehicle, and therefore of the interior space, is limited by size restrictions associated with public roads. It is, however, highly desirable to provide additional living space when the vehicle is parked. Accordingly, it is common to include slide-out rooms that can be retracted into the interior of the vehicle when the vehicle is traveling, and extended from the interior of the vehicle to provide additional space when the unit is parked for use.
Slide-out rooms to expand the living space for recreational vehicles are well known and typically consist of a five-sided box with the inside wall open that slides in and out of the opening in a sidewall of the recreational vehicle. Gaskets are provided around the perimeter of the slide-out to seal the perimeter both when the slide-out is retracted and when it is extended. Typically, slide-out rooms are extended from and retracted using a pair of support rails that telescopically extend and retract through a corresponding pair of channels, and may be extended and retracted either by power or manually, and typically also include some means for locking the slide-out in both the retracted position and the extended position.
Also known in the art, although less common than slide-out rooms, are pivot out rooms. Pivot out rooms pivot about either a horizontal or a vertical axis. To date, these types of rooms have not found widespread acceptance. One reason is that the mechanisms employed in prior art pivot out rooms were of insufficient quality and dependability to compete with the slide-out units. Furthermore, sealing of the pivot-out rooms has problematic in prior art devices. The present invention addresses these problems.